


The Lion, The Witch, and the Cursed Ghost

by SuccubustyKisses



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Anal Sex, Dry Humping, Ghost Keith, M/M, This does contain Keith being a ghost and explaining how he died, Witch Lance, cursed shiro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 16:36:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuccubustyKisses/pseuds/SuccubustyKisses
Summary: When lance goes to Kogane forest in search of the cat he saw plastered all over the news he ends up with a lot more than he bargained for. But he's not complaining.--------------------The ghost floated up, arms crossed as he looked over the trees. “I’ll make you a deal.” Lance’s eyes brightened, he knew his excitement was obvious. But, he didn’t care. “If you can find me in this forest before the sun sets, I’ll take you to see Shiro. If not, you will leave this forest without a fight.” He turned and lowered down to Lance’s level again, holding out his transparent hand. “Do we have a deal?”Shiro must be the cat.Lance reached out, taking the hand, surprised when he actually felt contact. “Deal.” Before he could even shake the hand properly it was gone, along with its owner, only the flutter of leaves in the air showing he had even been there. Snatching up one of the leaves, Lance grinned. This ghost vastly underestimated him.





	The Lion, The Witch, and the Cursed Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> Technically its the 28th so technically I can finally post this! Its been sitting in mu google docs complete for so long its torture! Also, I forgot to think of a title so this is what you get.  
> This is my piece for the au bang! Be sure to check closing notes where I will link to the beautiful artworks as soon as they are posted!  
> Thank you to Jay and Mari for the beta!

**Hero Cat Saves Campers**

**Heavy rains caused mudslides throughout Kogane forest last Saturday trapping multiple groups of campers and hikers inside the unforgiving forest. Just when they thought all hope to be lost a hero came to their rescue in the form of a very talkative cat.**

**Campers say the cat would continue to rub against their legs then walk off, meowing loudly without letting them pet it until they followed it. Soon the cat had gathered large groups of campers together, and with careful steps and loud shouts when someone didn’t listen to it, the cat lead everyone safely out of the forest.**

**Authorities say all reports of missing persons placed after the mudslides were accounted for after the heroic cat’s efforts. Grateful campers and their families have tried to find the owner of this lion-hearted house cat but no one has seen fur or paw of it since that day. The only proof that the cat wasn’t a hallucination has been the many identical reports from those rescued and a few blurry and dark photos and videos taken while the cat lead them through the trees.**

**Some believe this cat to have been a guardian angel sent to save everyone due to a constant fog-like blur seen in every piece of photographic evidence of the feline. Many people have left tributes to the cat on the outskirts of the forest in hopes of thanking it for its heroics but have lured in nothing but the normal local wildlife.**

**Authorities discourage leaving anything for the cat and instead ask that you show thanks by adopting from your local shelter so more pets can have the love they deserve.**

Lance sighed, squinting down at the blurry black and white photo of the cat in the paper. The picture was so bad that he couldn’t make out any details, and the videos were no better. “I feel like I’m on a wild goose chase,” he mumbled to the forest around him as he stuffed the newspaper clipping back in his bag and pulled out a bottle of water to take a drink. 

“A wild goose would be easier to find,” a voice behind him muttered sarcastically, causing Lance to choke on his water, folding him over as he tried to remove the water invading his lungs. “Oh! Well that’s new. Can you hear me?”

Lance held up a hand, gasping deep breaths of air into his abused lungs, his other hand gripping his knee as he forced out a sentence. “Just… hold on…” After a few moments Lance pushed himself upright, brushing at his pants as if they'd somehow gotten dirty. He spun on his heels to look at the empty forest behind him with a frown. He blinked slowly, as he glanced down at the muddy trail he was on then off to the side into the brush swaying lightly in the warm summer breeze. 

_Oh great, I’m losing my mind._

“Hey dumbass, I’m up here.” Lance’s head whipped up, eyes widening as he took in the man floating above him. He wore clothes that looked as if he came from centuries ago: breeches tucked into boots tied tight around his calves, a shirt tucked into the breeches, and a cloak over it, flowing in the wind. He was also see-through. His shoulder length black hair ruffling in the wind; his eyes dark voids. 

“Sonova-“

“Son of a king actually.” The ghost rolled his eyes, waving Lance’s comment away. “But, that doesn’t matter. You can see and hear me.” 

Lance nodded, slowly. “I wish I couldn’t. What kind of man still tries to rock a mullet?” 

“A dead one.” The ghost narrows his eyes, moving down to step onto the ground, leaves crunching under his feet. “Why can you see me? No one has seen or heard me other than Shiro since I was killed.” 

Lance looks at the ghost with a scowl. “Because I’m a witch, obviously.”

“So you’re evil.”

“What? No! Witches aren’t evil!” Lance’s jaw dropped as the ghost looked at him, confusion clouding his transparent face.

“I was killed by a witch.” The ghost stated in a flat, emotionless voice. “Now leave.”

“Wait, just hear me out.” Lance waves his hand around frantically. “Look, my name is Lance, I’m still technically a witch-in-training until I do something big enough to earn my stripes.  
And making a bond with an animal to be your familiar is a big deal. I promise I won’t hurt the cat. I just… when I saw the news article I felt like my heart was dragging me here. Please, help me meet this cat and I promise I’ll leave peacefully after. If that’s what you really want.” Lance pleaded with wide eyes. Sure, this was his first time seeing a ghost, and he honestly didn’t believe they'd actually existed before. Now he kind of wanted to poke his arm out to see if it went through his body.

The ghost floated up, arms crossed as he looked over the trees. “I’ll make you a deal.” Lance’s eyes brightened, he knew his excitement was obvious. But, he didn’t care. “If you can find me in this forest before the sun sets, I’ll take you to see Shiro. If not, you will leave this forest without a fight.” He turned and lowered down to Lance’s level again, holding out his transparent hand. “Do we have a deal?”

_Shiro must be the cat._

Lance reached out, taking the hand, surprised when he actually felt contact. “Deal.” Before he could even shake the hand properly it was gone, along with its owner, only the flutter of leaves in the air showing he had even been there. Snatching up one of the leaves, Lance grinned. This ghost vastly underestimated him. 

An hour later Lance stood in a clearing, red poppies fluttering in the wind around him as he held his cupped palms out. The leaf he’d grabbed earlier spinning around in circles in his hand with a soft blue glow. His eyes shifted up, then down, left, then right, before he frowned at the leaf. “Damn, should have known a locator spell wouldn’t work on a ghost.” 

With a grumble he crunched up the leaf, dropping the still glowing pieces to the ground before looking up at the quickly setting sun. “Come on Lance. You got this. You just have to find a transparent man in a forest you don’t know without the aid of magic. Just… think. If I were a ghost and I were playing hide and seek… I would hide where it would be most entertaining for m-“

Realization dawned on him. Whipping around, eyes wide, glaring at the forest behind him. “ _YOU’VE BEEN FOLLOWING ME THIS WHOLE TIME, HAVEN’T YOU?_ ” 

A soft laugh echoed through the flowers before the ghost materialized from the trees, stopping before he reached the flowers. “Congratulations, Lance. You figured it out. Now please stop stepping on my body and lets go.” 

Lance pumped his fist in the air, letting out a shout of victory before scrambling after the ghost’s retreating form. “So Mr. Ghost, why are you so protective of this cat? Is it like your pet?” 

The ghost laughed, a snort breaking through the middle of it. “Oh god, please ask him that. It’ll be priceless.” 

They moved quickly through the trees and into a small crack of a cave - a crack so small Lance had to turn sideways and squeeze to fit through. When they finally emerged from the crack, Lance stared, blinking in confusion. Piles of random things cluttered the floor of the cavern, haphazardly filling almost every inch of ground.

“Mr. Ghost-“

“Keith.”

“Right, Keith. I’m looking for a cat, not a dragon.” Keith laughed again, wiping a tear from his eye leaving Lance wondering what kind of potions he could make with a ghost’s tears. “What?”

Keith opened his mouth but any attempt at words was cut off by a voice. “Keith, is that you? Why do I hear talk-“ 

Lance turned to the small entrance, watching as a sleek-furred black cat with one white ear came trotting in on only three legs. It was dragging a small bag behind it. “Keith, who is this?”

“He’s a witch.” Keith supplied, back in his original deadpan voice. 

The cat’s fur puffed up as it slipped free of the strap of the bag. “Get out of here, Keith! I’ll distract him.” 

“You mean like you distracted them the day this happened to you? The day I had my soul ripped out of my body? The day my self-absorbed cousin stole my throne from my literal cold, dead hands?” Keith looked mad. “I don’t need you to protect me Shiro, I’m already dead.” 

“Not to interrupt this great, confusing trip down memory lane… but, why is the cat talking?” Lance looked back and forth between the ghost and the cat, confusion causing his head to ache. 

“Why are you here?” The cat questioned, ignoring Lance’s question.

_God even the cats are rude here._

“He wants to do something great to earn his place. So, I figured he could find a way to save you.”

“Keith, I don’t need saving.” Even with a feline face, Lance could see how unamused the cat was as it relaxed from its puffed up stance. Moving to unpack its bag, it began pulling out piles of snacks. 

“Please,” Lance sighed, rubbing his head. “Can we just go back to the beginning?” 

Keith sat down, floating in the air. “It’ll be nice to tell someone how I died.” The cat snorted. Turning away to unpack a pillow from his bag, adding it to a pile in the corner as if pretending to ignore them. 

Lance looked around the cave, reaching out for a cushion, freezing when a growl echoed through the cavern. Blinking over at the cat, Lance carefully let go of the fabric. “Um… sorry. I was just looking for something to sit on.” 

“Shiro doesn’t like people touching his stuff without permission. He’s always been like that.” Keith supplied with a small laugh. 

Lance sighed, looking over at the cat. “Shiro? Can I please have something to sit on? In return I promise to help you open that bag of chips.” 

Shiro looked unamused up at Lance before jumping high into the air and landing on the chips with a loud pop. Reaching a paw in he pulled out a chip, crunching on it with a satisfied gleam to his eye. Groaning, Lance accepted defeat, moving over to a wall with nothing around it. Flopping down on the ground he tugged his bag into his lap. “Okay, please. Tell me your story.” 

Keith was clearly barely able to hold back a laugh as he laid back, hands behind his head and foot on his bent knee. Still floating in the air. “It was a long time ago, I don’t really know the exact-“

“A hundred and fifty three years, four months, two weeks, and a day.” Shiro settled on a pillow, pulling chips out with a paw and crunching away. 

“Right… well on that day I was on a mission of peace for my family. We were heading for the land of Altea to meet with their king to ask for a contract of peace. The Galra empire were rumored to be heading our way so an alliance was my kingdom’s best bet for survival.” 

“We were headed through the forest. It was just my personal guards and I when they attacked. It didn’t take long before it was just me and my lead guard left alive. We barely defeated the enemy; my guard had even lost the use of his dominant arm. Just as we sheathed our swords, we heard the laughter, dark and maniacal echoing through the trees.”

Lance’s head tilted in curiosity as he watched both Keith and Shiro’s bodies shudder. Before he could ask, Keith continued. “She appeared like leaves in a storm, swirling into view out of nowhere, a sharp smirk on her lips and eyes a shining yellow in the setting sun. My guard tried to draw her attention away but she raised her hand sending a dark fog to surround him. All I could hear was his agonizing screams and the crunching of bones as she turned her attack on me.” 

“It felt… well… you know when you swallow down a good strong drink? That burning you get in the back of your throat? It was like that, only it was in my veins. Like my blood was on fire, boiling me away from the inside out. I don’t even remember falling, just pain, and then darkness. When I awoke, it was to my most trusted guard’s voice. He was screaming my name. But, when I opened my eyes to look at him, I saw myself instead. My body was charred. Like i’d been left in a pyre, lying on the ground below me.”

“I screamed. It was only after I did that I saw movement. A startled jump, a yowl of pain as it landed, and the puff of a tail. There beside my body was a cat, its leg dangling uselessly from its body as it looked up at me with wide eyes. We stared at each other for a while before the cat hissed and yelled at me to get back into my body. The cat which had the same voice of my best guard.”

“Wait.” Lance held up his hands looking up at Keith and then over to the cat. “You were his guard? You were a human? You’re over 150 years old???” 

Shiro chuckled, licking the orange dust from his paw. “I guess some curses really wanna dig the knife in. I’ve tried to die. Hell, I ripped my own useless leg off and survived.” Lance shuddered. “Not that I mind living anymore. I could never leave Keith alone. We’re a team.”

“I’m going to break your curse.” Lance leaned forward, excitement sparkling in his eyes.

Shiro’s feline face seemed to frown as he looked back at Lance in disbelief. “You? How?”

“I- I don’t actually know…” Fidgeting with his fingers, Lance continued in a determined voice. “But, I know where to go. To Punk.”

“Wouldn’t punks be a bad think?” Keith was flipped upside down now, legs crossed and hands on his ankles as he floated through the air. 

Lance laughed. “No no, not a punk. Punk. Its… well they’re a jack of all trades group. Mercenaries of sorts. But they only do good deeds, and always do thorough research before taking on a mission. We need to go see Punk!” 

“But I can’t leave Kogane forest,” Keith pouts.

“And I’m not going anywhere without Keith.” Shiro curled up on the pillow, his tail curling around to cover his face. “So just… go to sleep and leave in the morning. You can sleep in the pillow pile... but don’t rearrange it!” 

Lance frowned, looking from Shiro to Keith who now looked heartbroken down at the cat. “I’m going for a walk.” He got to his feet, heading for the exit. “And I’m not going to give up on you.”

* * *

Lance’s mouth felt tacky, his eyes puffy like he’d been crying, and his limbs heavy. He wanted to stretch, but a weight on his chest caused him to hold off. It vibrated on his chest causing his heart to stutter in an attempt to keep up with it. Cracking open an eye Lance froze, both eyes shooting open when he saw the triangle of a pink nose close to his face, much bigger than his own. Swallowing hard his eyes traced up the nose and over a thick scar, following along sleek black fur to a curved ear that twitched in time to Lance’s exhales.

Biting his lip, Lance tried to scoot out from under the mass on his chest but the rumbling grew louder, more angry, shifting from a purr into a growl. He stopped and the purring resumed. He shifted his head to try and find a means of escape from the panther that had claimed him as its pillow. As he looked around, his eyes met with amused transparent ones and he nearly screamed. Only Keith’s flailing and shushing keeping him from his own panicked demise. 

“Tell me what you did,” Keith whispered.

“What?”

“To Shiro! You made him huge! If I had a body still I could ride him. What did you do?” Keith’s hands hovered over them as if he wanted to bury them into the giant cat’s fur, but was too afraid to wake him. He seemed completely oblivious to Lance being stuck underneath it.

“Well, apparently I cuddled with him.” Lance let out a breath slowly, smiling at the twitching ear. “But the only magic work I did was for you.”

Keith startled, brows furrowing together. “For… me?” 

The purring stopped, the body on top of Lance blinking open dark eyes. The two stared at each other for a moment; Lance awkwardly trying not to fidget and Shiro blinking sleepily. Standing up with a tired stretch Shiro walked over to the entrance, smacking right into the wall around the small crack. Recoiling with a hiss, he shook his head, feline features pulled in a frown at the suddenly much smaller crack in the cave wall. 

Lance could barely contain his laughter as he watched the panther stare with sagging shoulders at the crack in the wall. His eyes blinking slowly, like the gears just weren’t turning in his head. _Cute._

“He’s not a morning person is he?” 

Keith smiled fondly. “Never has been. Now, about that magic.” 

Smiling as he continued to watch Shiro struggle to get his sleepy body through the crack, Lance slowly crawled out of the nest of pillows. He moved across the cave to his bag, unzipping it and pulling out a glass jar, a cork, and a pile of stuff from the woods around them; including dirt, leaves, flowers, and thorns, all resting in their own individual sandwich bags. He also pulled out an electric kettle, filling it with bottled water. Holding the plug in his hand, Lance concentrated, feeling sparks coursing through his veins. Before long the red light flicked on signifying the Kettle was heating up.

Waving his free hand over the other stuff he looked up at Keith. “Now, you are the first ghost I have ever seen. So, I can’t guarantee this will work. But, I think I can use a containment spell to put your soul into something else so you can leave the forest.” He glanced back down as the water in the kettle started to bubble and pulled out a mug, a bowl, and another sandwich bag with tea bags in it. “I have no idea how it will work, if it does work at all. But if it does we can take you to Punk and find information on how to free you completely to wander… well, to float wherever you want.” 

The light on the kettle clicked over to green and Lance dropped the plug. Shaking the tingling feeling out of his arm and pulling out two of the tea-like bags, he smiled at the smell of coffee that filled the cave as he poured hot water over them into the bowl and then the mug. He moved the pouches of coffee around in the containers until the scent was strong and the liquid a nice dark color. 

A loud purr echoed in from the entrance causing Lance to look over with a smile at Shiro. He was half in the entryway, nose in the air and a content look on his face, his eyes closed. “ _Coffee._ ”

Lance chuckled, adding a travel cup of caramel flavored creamer into his mug along with a few sugar cubes. “Cream and sugar?” 

Shiro’s eyes opened in a slow confused blink. He wiggled for a moment, claws from his front paw digging into the dirt. As if struggling to get back inside. “Me?”

“Yeah, you. I thought you’d like a little pick me up before the long day I have planned. So I made you a bowl of coffee.” He waves his hand over the clay bowl. “I have some of these non-dairy caramel creamers and sugar cubes.”

Shiro’s purr grew impossibly louder as he finally popped through the crack. Loping over to Lance, he sniffed the coffee in the bowl happily. “Both, and lots of it.” He paused, eyes curious as he looked into Lance’s face. “Please.” 

Lance obliged, making the coffee so sweet he could smell the sugar in the air. He carefully pushed the bowl over to Shiro. The big cat immediately laying down and happily lapping up a drink with a pleased groan. 

Sipping his own coffee, Lance looked back at Keith. He sat cross-legged on the ground looking curiously at the baggies full of forest substances. “I’ll explain what’s happening once Shiro is awake enough to comprehend what I’m saying.” 

“M’wake.” Shiro mumbled around his happy purr. 

“Are you sure about that?” Lance raised a brow at the panther, who only nodded back in response.

Shrugging Lance grinned, putting on a fake impressed voice. “Wow, well you’re taking your change of appearance quite well then. I personally would be freaking out.”

“Change of-“ Shiro looked down at his paw, his purring stopping as he realized how massive it was compared to Lance’s own hand resting nearby. “What th- what did you do?”

Lance shifted back slightly from the accusation. “I didn’t do anything. But, I have a theory! You see, a lot of dark magic spells have cheesy fairytale cures. I think my coming here has brought you closer to your own cure. So your body is growing back into its original, apparently massive size.” 

Both Keith and Shiro looked skeptically back at Lance. “How do you figure that?”

Lance waved his hands in an arch in front of his face, his fingers tingling as glitter fluttered down from them. “ _Magic_.” 

Keith snorted in indignation, and Shiro rolled his eyes. Drinking the last of his coffee before he pushed himself up. “So you’re telling me that meeting you changed my body for the first time after over 150 years, because you are supposedly going to help me break this curse?” 

“Correction, I’m going to break both of your curses.” Lance stated with a determined nod. “I may not be able to bring Keith back to life... but I’m pretty sure I can move him into a talisman until we figure out how to release him into the world, and not just the forest.”

Shiro let out an impressed hum and glanced over to the baggies of stuff Keith kept picking up and peering through. “So what’s the plan then, sparkles?” 

Lance frowned at the nickname, flicking a pinch of glitter onto Shiro’s dark fur. “I spent a good portion of the night gathering natural ingredients; bark from a redwood, a pine cone still fresh from the branch, the longest thorns i could find, flowers of rest, the dirt from a grave… sorry about that by the way Keith. I just need the more live portions now. The dew from a spider’s web, a feather gifted from a crow- a raven would work too but it has to be gifted, not stolen, and the skin of a snake.”

“I can get the feather.” Keith’s eyes sparkled in excitement. 

“Awesome, that’s the hardest part. Once we get all of it I’ll get Keith to touch a bunch of the components. That will put his essence into them. Then I make the potion, pour it onto a talisman, piece of jewelry… anything really, and it should pull Keith into it. Then we can take him out of the forest with us.” 

“And if it fails?” Shiro questioned in an unamused tone. 

Lance shrugged. “Then Keith can’t leave the forest and I go ask Punk what I can do without you two with me.” Lance leveled his gaze with the panther, a confident tilt to his chin. “So, are you in, pussycat?”

* * *

Lance was darting around, lifting leaves and peeking between branches. He looked ridiculous, but Shiro couldn’t say he wasn’t determined. Watching the boy shuffle through tick filled brush did make Shiro want to see him succeed. Maybe not _all_ witches were bad. This one didn’t _seem_ evil. 

_He’s actually kind of adorable_. He’d kept his cloak off, the green fabric hanging from a tree nearby. The white sleeves of his blue and white patterned shirt were rolled up as high as he could get around the bandages wrapped over his biceps. Shiro wondered to himself the reasoning behind the bandages on Lance’s arms and legs, as he didn’t appear to be injured. 

Looking up into the trees, he watched as Keith flew from tree to tree excitedly talking to all the birds. Shiro knew Keith wasn’t one to trust people easily. But he also knew he could be easily swayed, and the thought of leaving this forest was a damn good bartering chip. 

Glancing back down to Lance, he watched him again. Lance was on his hands and knees, ass up in the air, swaying to the song he was humming. The front of his body was buried deep in some thorn-filled brush. He was going to get cuts doing that. 

“You’re really not going to help?” Shiro’s ears twitched, but he chose to ignore the presence floating beside him. He chose instead to keep watching the witch as he sprang free of the brush, excitedly holding a small vial in the air with a couple drops of moisture on it. A fresh cut marred his cheek, blood starting to bead up, and his hands were covered in cuts and scrapes. 

With a shake of his head, Shiro pushed to his paws. He relished in a quick stretch of his new, much larger body before walking off. He may not trust the young witch, but, if it would help them, he supposed he could help. Luckily for all of them, Shiro knew this forest like the back of his now, very large paw. 

Stepping over a log, his paw caught on the branch of a log, sending him tumbling face-first into a large, muddy puddle. _Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best comparison to use right now_.

* * *

There was a buzz of excitement in Lance’s chest as he stuffed a cork into the small vial. Ignoring the bloody thumbprint he left on the outside of it he held it up to the sun. “Finally! Enough dew from a spider’s web! I wonder how Keith is doing with the-“

“I got you 30.” Keith floated up behind Lance, startling him and causing Lance to slip from the branch he had been balanced on, nearly falling to his ghost-inflicted demise. A death grip on the wood the only thing keeping him from tumbling to the ground below. Now dangling off the branch like a sloth, he shot a glare up to the snickering ghost. “Climb much?”

“Why am I trying to help you again?” Rolling his eyes, Lance unwound his legs from the branch dropping to the ground below. “Anyway, I only needed one feather, but I’ll happily take all 30. I can save the rest for later. Oh! Or I can sell them! I bet I can get a real pretty penny off of those babies.” Ignoring the stinging from the cuts on his hands, arms, and knees, he looked around with wide, excited eyes. “Now we just need the skin of a-“

“Already taken care of.” Lance’s heart skipped a beat as Shiro padded back into the area, bag looped around his neck, head held high, looking proud of himself. “I didn’t know if you needed the skin from a specific type of snake. So I got one from all three types that we have in Kogane Forest.” 

Lance’s eyes sparkled as he practically skipped over to Shiro. “Shiro!! I didn’t think you’d help! I’m so excited; this is going to be my best spell ever!” Reaching out he stopping inches away from the bag, hesitant blue eyes shifting up to the panther’s amused silver ones. “Can I?” 

At Shiro’s nod Lance digs his hands in the bag. Pulling out three strips of white snake skin, in three different sizes. Grinning, Lance lunged, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s neck and snuggling into his soft fur with an excited hug. “This is perfect! Now all we need is a clearing in the sunlight!” 

Eyes still sparkling in excitement, he pulled back smiling brightly down at Shiro. “Any suggestions on where to- OH!” Pointing down, Lance stepped back, grin spreading ever wider as he watched the swirl of magic sparkle up from the tips of Shiro’s toes to halfway up his legs leaving the once black fur a sparkling white. “SHIRO!! YOU’VE GOT SOCKS!” 

Shiro blinked up at Lance in confusion, his eyes moved down where Lance’s finger pointed towards his own paws. His eyes widened comically, letting out a surprised squeak, his tail puffing up. He settled his weight on his hind legs, holding his now white front paw out, in front of his face. Tail swishing quickly on the ground stirring up leaves and dust. Shiro waved his paw frantically in the air before turning his eyes to Lance. “ _WHAT DID YOU DO??_ ” 

Lance beamed, moving over he took the massive paw in his hands and looked down at it. “I told you, Shiro! The more you trust me the closer we get to your cure! We’re going to make you human before you know it! Now, let’s find a good, sunny clearing for me to work my magic!” 

“That sounds great and all,” Shiro added with a small nod of his nose to Lance’s fingers wrapped around his paw. “-but I can’t walk with you holding my paw.” 

Blushing, Lance ripped his hands back, brushing them off on his pants. Turning, he picked up the snakeskins he’d dropped in his excitement and glanced around. “Where did Keith go?” 

Shiro shrugged, returning his paw to the ground and flexing his claws in and out in the dirt. Sighing, Lance put the snakeskins in his bag, along with the small bottle of dew. “Well, is there any way to find him?”

“Find who?” Lance screamed, tumbling forward as Keith once again appeared behind him. A soft snickering reached his ears. Lance shifted his attention to Shiro, who quickly steeled his face from amusement to nonchalance. “Et tu, pussycat?”

* * *

Lance grinned, looking down at his completed work. The sun sparkled off the charm he laid out on a flat rock in front of him. Now detached from the collar he brought it on, the golden clam’s shell with a blue pearl adorned with a tiny gold starfish on top looked small next to his rainbow onyx carved mortar. Inside the gemstone bowl was a thick, white paste like substance. 

It took longer than he’d have liked to put the potion together, Keith and Shiro’s constant curious hovering making it take much longer. Lance looked up at the sun, happy that it's shining perfectly down into the lake next to them. “Its perfect, finished just in time.” 

“Now what?” Shiro stayed a few steps away but Lance could see the tension in his muscles, the way he wanted to come closer and see. 

Keith hovered just to the side of him, feigning nonchalance but his eyes did not stray from the flat rock and the items on top of it. “And why the jewelry?”

Lance gave a nod of his head, waving the two closer, chuckling at their eager speed. “Keith is going to hold onto my charm and go into the lake, from there I’m going to send the potion around him, like a bubble. The bubble will get smaller and smaller making Keith inside it smaller and smaller until it seals him into the charm.” 

“Then what happens to Keith?” Shiro padded closer, sniffing at the potion carefully. 

“Figuratively speaking, he sleeps. I’ll give you the charm so you can know he’s safe with you, and then we leave.” Lance shrugged, turning to Keith. “The light is key for this so if we want to do it today we have to do it now. Are you ready?” 

“Don’t you have anything… better to put me in?” Keith picked up the small charm, dangling it in front of his face with a frown. “This is so… Delicate?”

Lance gasped, putting a hand to his chest dramatically. “How dare you! That is my personalized mark made by the greatest magic jewel maker in the world! This pet tag cost me over a year’s savings!”

“Pet tag?” Shiro glanced up from the potion in curiosity. “Where’s the pet?”

Keith started snickering causing Lance to flail his arms through his body in an attempt to shut him up. “That’s not important. Let's hurry up and do this, okay?” 

Shoulders still shaking Keith clutched the charm in his fist floating out to the lake. “Here?”

“In the sunlight.” Lance lifted his mortar up and nodded when Keith stopped in just the right spot, sinking his feet into the water. “Good, that’s perfect. Any last words?”

“Hurry up, slowpoke.” Keith gave a smug smile back at him. 

Lance rolled his eyes, looking down at Shiro, taking in his firm stance and tense shoulders. “Are you ready?”

Shiro sighed. “Keep him safe.” 

“For you? I will resist the urge to maim him.” 

“I heard that!” Keith’s cheeks puffed out in a pout causing both Shiro and Lance to laugh. “Just hurry up already! I wanna get out of this forest!!” 

Lance laughed, hovering his hand over the mortar and the potion within. Concentrating on the spell he wanted to cast he slowly raised his hand from the bowl. The potion within raised up along with his hand like a string of yarn tied to his finger.

Once the mortar was empty of every drop of potion Lance dropped it to the ground and put his now free hand under the potion. He smiled, feeling the tingle of power coming off the potion and coursing through his body. Pushing the power back into his hands he closed them slowly around the sticky substance and pulled his hands up to his lips.

_Okay Lance. This is it. You’ve only succeeded on a sealing spell once before… But that’s okay! Those weren’t your potions. You made this one so you can do this spell. Do it for them, do it for yourself. Just… Do it!_

Cupping his hands in front of his lips he pulled the cold feeling of his power from within himself and blew. His power felt like ice freezing his lips and palms as it spread out, pulling on the potion until it formed a large icy bubble. 

When the potion had completely left his hands and sealed into a circle larger than himself, Lance stopped. Taking only a second to steel his nerves before pushing the bubble forward hard, praying to all the gods and goddesses that it didn’t fail as it slowly molded around Keith like a forcefield. Barely resisting the urge to pump his fist in the air Lance stepped closer, feeling more confident as his feet hit the water. 

“Here we go!” 

Breathing through his mouth Lance took a deep breath, let it out slowly and then gathered his power again. His whole body tingled cold, the air and water around him thick with frost. Closing his eyes he pushed the power down through his body and into the water, feeling it freeze around him. 

The sound of crackling echoed through the air as the ice spread, moving quickly through the water, making a line of ice straight towards Keith. A low hum joined with the crackling as the ice reached the bubble, circling around it. 

As soon as the ice completely circled Keith Lance’s eyes shot open, glowing a bright solid blue. With a loud whoosh the water shot up in the air, completely surrounding Keith who stood pressed against the side of the bubble with wide, curious eyes. The pillar froze into a solid swirl of ice, then, with a loud crack, began to shrink. 

Lance’s ears popped, his head throbbed, and his veins burned. His whole body shook as he glared at the ice, shrinking down on the bubble making it smaller and smaller. Spots of white began overtaking his vision by the time the bubble got about a foot long. Refusing to give up or look away Lance pushed more power out into the water, causing another loud crack as the bubble shrank substantially, changing shape into that of a small seashell. 

The icy shell floated forward hovering in front of Lance. Giving a shaky grin Lance reached up, wrapping his fingers around the frozen shape. “I did it!” Lance closed his eyes, legs giving out as he fell to his knees, the water around him still frozen. His eyes fluttered closed, then opened again, his vision spotting with black as he saw a white paw step up next to him, a cool nose pressed into his cheek. “Shiro, I did it.” 

Lance’s body went cold and heavy. His eyes closed, suddenly too heavy to open. He smiled softly into the fur pressed against his cheek as he lost consciousness.

* * *

Lance woke up warm. Which wasn’t normal when he overused his powers and practically froze himself. He always woke up cold, shivering, with a horrible headache and full-body exhaustion that lasted for at least a week even with potions to help him. 

So waking up warm, comfortable, with no aches or pains. Lance was confused. He laid there for what felt like hours, but was probably only about five minutes, before the warmth his face was buried into shifted. Frowning he opened his eyes, seeing only a glittering white in his vision. The glow quickly faded away leaving Lance to wonder if he’d imagined it.

Hand still fisted around the cold weight of the charm, he pushed himself up into sitting and looked around. He was in a cave. It was dark, and very little light seeped in through the entryway leading him to believe it was night. He looked down and found himself surrounded by dark fur and pillows. Shiro’s cave then. 

Moving carefully Lance crawled out of the pillows, stretching his limbs before looking down at the nest of pillows. Tiptoeing around the pillows he moved to the other side and gasped. 

_Not a blanket._

_Definitely not a blanket._

In the place next to where he was laying was a massive white lion. Its paws looked to be bigger than Lance’s head and its mane fluffed out completely burying its ears in the mass. Swallowing down his nerves Lance crawled back into the nest, shifting slowly forward until he was kneeling in front of the lion’s massive head. A deep scar cut across its muzzle, just above its nose. 

Shiro.

Letting curiosity get the better of him Lance lifted his hand, hovering it for only a moment over the Lion’s mane before plunging it into the soft fur. A loud rumbling purr echoed through the cavern. Grinning, Lance became more bold. He quickly located Shiro’s ear and began scratching behind it. 

Making a happy noise at the continued purr, Lance sat back running his hand over Shiro’s shoulder and down his leg, stopping at his paw. His fingers graced over the pads of his paw with giddy delight. The paw shifted. 

Lance quickly stopped, but kept his hand on the paw as he looked up into amused dark eyes. “Are you done, Lance?”

Feeling further emboldened by the fact that Shiro didn’t pull away, Lance lifted the paw up. It weighed a ton. Shoving the charm into his pocket he reached with his other hand to get a better grip. “No I’m not.” He grinned at Shiro before looking back at the paw and pressing into the pads, making an excited squeal when giant claws pushed out. “Shiro you’re huge! You could rip me in two with these things!!”

“Wouldn’t that be a good reason not to harass me?” Shiro sounded amused, the corner of his mouth lifting to flash fangs in what Lance hoped was a smile. 

Laughing Lance let go of the paw watching the claws retract before pressing again. “You won’t hurt me, Shiro. Without me you would have an awful lot of trouble getting Keith back. Plus, I think you like me.”

Shiro hummed, the tip of his tail twitching. “Maybe I do.” 

“Oh.” Lance slowly pushed the paw down into his lap. “I didn’t actually expect you to agree.” 

Another soft hum escaped Shiro, his paw shifted out of Lance’s lap. Before Lance could react the paw shot up, grabbing Lance and yanking him down against his chest with a startled squawk. “SHIRO!! _What are you doing?_ ”

“Shoosh, Lance. It’s sleep time.”

“But-“

“Sleep.” The rumble of Shiro’s purr was a comforting vibration against Lance. Accepting his fate Lance curled into the warmth of Shiro’s embrace. 

_I could get used to this._

* * *

A shifting of movement, his paw lifted up, the warmth pressed to his chest leaving and a softness stuffed in its place. A discontent rumble left his chest followed by a soft gasp from the other. Shiro reached his paw out, padding around with a frown when he couldn't find his warmth. Sighing in defeat he burrowed his nose into the pillow and tried to go back to sleep.

Sleep didn’t come. Just the sound of rustling and then silence, only the songs of birds singing outside the cave echoing through the air. Blinking sleepily he pushed himself up, squinting around the cave. 

It was empty of any other life, the bag in the corner opened with contents spilling out, a bowl of steaming warmth sitting next to it. He sniffed the air, purring happily when he smelled the sweetness of over-sugared coffee in the air. He pushed himself to his paws, stretching until he felt the satisfying pop of his spine, then padded over to the bowl to lap up the delicious coffee within. 

_I could wake up to this every morning._

Once the bowl was licked clean Shiro moved, squeezing out of the crack in the wall. He pressed his nose to the ground sniffing for any sign of the witch, then again to the air. The sweet smell of coconut filled his senses, stronger than he expected. Grinning he followed it, weaving easily through brush and tree towards the lake. 

Soft singing reached his ears before he made it to the clearing, followed by the splatter of heavy rain. Confused Shiro looked up at the sky and the fluffy white clouds that framed the rising sun. _No rain._

Lead by curiosity he emerged from the brush. His eyes settled quickly on the lake, a spiral of water floating above it dripping down like heavy rainfall onto shining tan skin. Shiro swallowed hard, eyes widening as he took in the sight. 

Lance was naked, his skin shining bright in the light of the sun as water cascaded down the slopes of muscles previously hidden away by his clothes and into the lake below. His arms were raised, scrubbing sweet smelling foam into his hair as the air filled with a song Shiro couldn’t even try to guess. 

Shiro’s mouth went dry. His eyes followed a trail of bubbles down Lance’s back and over his pert ass. _I have never seen a more perfect behind._ Shiro had admired plenty of men in his cat purrgatory, but none had ever made his heart stop like Lance. He was the embodiment of Shiro’s perfect man, and there was nothing Shiro could do about it. 

The figure of Shiro’s adoration turned, giving Shiro an even better view of a slightly toned chest, adorned with the glint of the charm Shiro knew Keith to be sealed inside, a chestnut trail of hair leading down to neatly trimmed curls just above Lance’s half hard dick. 

_Gods take me I must be in hell._

Shiro swallowed hard, fighting the urge to start drooling as he watched a twitch of movement when Lance gasped. “Shiro! You scared me!” Lance placed a hand over his chest drawing Shiro’s eyes up to it, then further into wide blue eyes framed in a deep red blush. 

_This is how I finally die._

“Sorry.” Shiro rasped before clearing his throat. “I didn’t mean to- I was just curious where you disappeared to.” He stepped forward, looking up at the ball of water. “What are you doing?”

“Uh… Taking a shower?” Lance sounded confused. “Actually, you should get one too before we leave! No one is going to believe you’re my familiar with nasty muddy fur like yours.”

“Excuse you? I clean my fur!” Shiro glared back down at Lance who only grinned, stepping forward to move around Shiro and start pushing him towards the lake. His hands were warm on Shiro’s flank. 

Shiro allowed himself to be pushed into the fall of the water, mind too full of thoughts of other ways those long fingers could be touching his ass. If only he weren’t trapped in this feline body. “You know when I woke up this morning your fur was more white than black, but you didn’t have this.” Lance’s fingers laced into Shiro’s mane, tugging on a thick patch of white as he moved around to his front again. “Did something happen?”

_I saw something I’d willingly sell my soul for._

“No?” Shiro was glad for the thick fur covering his face as he could feel himself blushing, his eyes once again enjoying the now closer view, trailing down Lance’s long perfect legs, imagining licking up them and leaving claiming marks along his thighs. 

“Huh, weird.” Lance shrugged, grabbing his shampoo and shifting the flow of water off Shiro, dumping a long trail along Shiro’s body. A loud purr filled the air as Lance massaged the coconut scented lather into all of Shiro’s fur, shooting him a wink as he knelt down into his face to massage the bubbles into his mane. “You’re going to look like a new lion when I’m done with you. This is my own recipe after all. Perfect for the softest and shiniest hair, well… Fur… Ever!” 

Lance hummed happily as his hands ran along Shiro’s fur, unaware of the turmoil he was causing within Shiro’s mind. Just when Shiro felt himself about to break and say _something_ water began pouring over him again. He startled, closing his eyes from the onslaught of soapy water as Lance just kept _touching him._

An excited gasp pierced through Shiro’s inner musing on if Lance’s skin tasted as good as it smelled. “SHIRO!!”

With a groan Shiro opened his eyes startled by how close Lance’s face was to his own. He startled trying to jump back but Lance’s hold on his mane tightened preventing his movement without pain. “Lance what are you doing?”

“What am I doing? What are _you_ doing?” Lance’s excited eyes shifted from Shiro’s mane to his eyes. “Your mane is turning white!!” 

“I’m… Getting a bath?” 

“But what are you _thinking about_?” Lance’s eyes were bright with excitement, his hair slicked back as water ran down his nose. 

_How I want to pin you down and lick every piece of moisture off of your body._

“Um… That I like the smell of this stuff you’re using?” Lance’s smile died down into a confused frown, his eyes shifting back and forth to look at Shiro’s. 

“Really? Is that all?”

Swallowing down his guilt Shiro nodded. “Yeah, are we done? We should get going I want to hurry up and get my body back.”

“Right!” Lance beamed and with the wave of his hand the fall of water disappeared back into the lake. With another wave a large gust of warm wind swirled around them, only leaving when Shiro felt warm and dry. “But first I want to give you this.” Reaching back Lance unclasped the chain from his neck and held it in front of Shiro. 

“You want me to hold Keith?” Shiro stared at the charm, the pearl going iridescent in the sunlight. 

“Well you are his knight, right?” Lance smirked turning the necklace around and leaning forward to wrap his arms around Shiro’s neck. “Besides, if you wear this people will think you’re my familiar and not some crazed wild lion roaming the streets.” 

Lance grinned, leaning back to look at Shiro, the charm dangling perfect below his mane. “My mark looks good on you, fluff butt.”

_This boy is going to kill me._

* * *

“Well, Shiro.” Lance grinned, turning to the lion with an excited bounce in his step. “Welcome to the city of Altea. The magic capital of the world!” 

Shaking his head Shiro rolled his eyes, looking around at the bustling city full of booths and all the people giving him nervous looks as they move through the shops. “Seems so… Inviting.”

Lance waved a hand in front of his face as he walked into the crowd, forcing Shiro to speed up to catch up with him. “They’re just not used to seeing a lion walking around, but you’re wearing my mark, so people will merely think you’re my familiar and won’t pay any attention to-“

“HEY MISTER CAN I PET YOUR GIANT CAT?!” Lance jumped, turning wide eyes to look at a small excited boy with his hands already deep in Shiro’s mane. “She’s so soft and fluffy!!”

Shiro shot wide, terrified eyes up at Lance, his whole body frozen stiff. Lance gave him a soft look before kneeling down to the boy. “His mane is very soft and fluffy because I work hard cleaning him to keep him that way. I do hope you’ve washed your hands before carelessly touching him.” 

The little boy froze, turning guilty eyes up at Lance as he pulled his hands out to look down at them, covered in dirt and what Lance and Shiro both hoped was chocolate. “I’m sorry Mister…” 

Lance pat the boy on the head with a fond smile. “It’s okay, this just means I have to wash him again. Now why don’t you run along and find your parents and I won’t tell that you were touching animals without asking _first._. Deal?” The boy nodded frantically, running off into the crowd leaving Shiro to sigh in relief. 

“Thanks, Lance. I’m not really… Used to being touched.” Shiro glanced around nervously. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just mark you so I’m the only one who can touch you!” Lance dug his fingers into Shiro’s mane, tugging lightly. “After I get that chocolate out of your fur.” 

Shiro chuckled. “I hope it’s chocolate.” 

Lance burst out laughing, picking the mess away as best as he could before standing and brushing his hands on his pants. “Now I just need… Here!” He grabbed a strip of cloth from a booth and handed over a few coins before coming back to Shiro. With a satisfied grin he tied the strip into a bow on Shiro’s tail. “There, purple on a familiar means it’s working and should not be bothered!” 

He moved around to look down at Shiro, grinning at the Lion. He stood there, nerves showing easily on his face and the twitch of his now ribboned tail. _Adorable_. Shiro’s eyes shifted through the crowd again. “Can we just… Hurry to see this Punk?”

“Yes! Come on we can make it a race.” Lance crouched down, prepared to run. “Ready? Set!” 

“GO!!” Shiro took off through the crowd, leaving Lance scrambling to catch up to him. Every time Shiro needed to make a turn Lance would yell out the direction, laughing as people jumped aside to avoid the giant two-toned lion’s run. 

The moved through the streets and towards the building Lance knew so well. “STOP!!” Lance yelled, laughing as Shiro stumbled to a stop nearly toppling to his face. “We’re here.” 

Lance stopped next to Shiro, reaching over to scratch behind his ear. “Welcome to the private residence of Punk.” 

“Private residence?” Shiro followed Lance as he walked up to the door of the small one story home. “I thought these people were mercenaries, how would you know where they live?” 

“Because!” Lance grinned pulling a key out of his bag. “I live here.”

* * *

The confusion quickly cleared away to surprise as Shiro watched Lance open the door, doing an over-exaggerated bow as he held the door open to let him inside. “You’re a mercenary.” 

Smiling smugly Lance waved a hand, a gust of wind pushing on Shiro’s back end giving him a nudge to get him inside. “We prefer to be called Jacks of all trades. But yes, I am a member of Punk.”

“You lied to me.” Shiro stood just inside the door as Lance shut it, flipping the lock behind him. “You tricked us! If you were part of Punk why couldn’t you just fix us back in the forest?” 

_Why would you get me to trust you?_

“Shiro, just… Trust me. I haven’t lied to you. I just omitted a small truth. The fact that I brought you to my home like this means I trust you. Can you still do the same for me and let me explain?” Lance crouched down to look Shiro in the eye. 

“How do I get Keith back?” 

Lance sighed, standing up and walking down a hall filled with doors much too large for the outside of the house. “You break the talisman. But, I wouldn’t do it outside of Kogane forest just in case. I really don’t want him hurt.”

Hurrying after Lance Shiro followed him up a spiral staircase into a large room decorated with glowing stars. It had four overly plush looking blue chairs set up around a table stacked high with books, a large bed neatly made, and a plethora of sharks scattered over every surface: plush, figurines, stickers, even what looked like a fish tank full of miniaturized ones. Lance sighed, flopping back into one of the chairs. 

Shiro sighed loudly, which from his lion body came out as more of a chuff of air. He looked at one of the chairs, then down at his paw, gauging his size against it. _Maybe if I hang my paw over the arm I can-_ The chair groaned, letting out a loud crack, and stretched out into an still plush, still blue, couch. “Oh.”

“You wanted to sit, right?” Lance sounded nervous. Shiro noded, hopping up onto the couch and snuggling into the plush fabric. _I’ll never be satisfied with stolen campers’ pillows again._ “Comfy?”

Shiro nods again, resisting the urge to purr before shooting a glare over to the young witch. “Explain.”

“I come from a human born family. My older sister is a well known witch, and I like to think myself powerful, but I’m not certified. I never passed the test, so no one will hire me. There are loopholes to the test though. Prove yourself powerful in a good way and you’ll easily be certified.”

Lance shifted, laying across the chair propping one foot up on the back of the chair while the other and his head dangle over the arms. “I went to Kogane Woods after reading a news report about you. Something about it, about you… I had to go, to see this heroic cat. I intended to convince this cat to bond its soul with me. But then, there was Keith and you.”

“What does bonding your soul entail?” Shiro rests his head on his paw, watching Lance’s foot bob. 

“Its um… Pretty much you give each other power over one another. A familiar and their witch have the power to control and use each other, and they die together, so it’s super important to protect your familiar! Their life force is extended but they can still die by accidents and drag you down with them.” Lance circled his hand in the air as he talked, as if he had trouble staying still. 

“So you intended to find me and make me your familiar, but you saw the truth and decided saving us was a fall back plan?” 

“What? No! I couldn’t just leave you there! I want to help you Shiro. Not for my certificate so I can stop hiding behind my friends and working in the shadows, but so I can free you from your terrible curse. I want to make things right for you!” Lance pushed himself up to look over at him. “Please, trust me.”

_I do._

“So why a mercenary? And why not tell us?” 

“I want to work in magic! I’m good at it! There is a reason I have it when most of my family doesn’t, I’m not going to waste it because I have trouble during tests! So Pidge and Hunk offered me a deal, I could be a part of Punk and work behind the scenes, if I let them live with me. So we expanded my house and here we are.” Lance flopped back onto the chair waving his arms to signify the room. “I intend to stay in Punk, but I want to be certified. That way if I fuck up it won’t drag them down for illegally hiring me.”

“He’d also be lonely without us.” A female voice came from the doorway, startling Shiro into growling, fur puffing up around him. He turned his glare to the door where a young looking girl stood, large round glasses on her nose and untamed brown hair. She had on an outfit similar to Lance’s but in green and with a hooded cloak overtop. She pushed her glasses up her nose and looked at Shiro “This is not a small black cat Lance, what did you find out there?”

Lance beamed, looking to the door with a laugh. “ _Adventure!_ ”

The girl snorted, stepping into the room and over to Shiro. “Looks more like ancient forbidden magic to me… And is that a binding spell?” She turned her head over to Lance. “Did you bind this poor thing to you?”

“What? No!” Lance threw a pillow at the girl, pouting when she easily caught it. “That’s a ghost! Just wait until Hunk gets here and I’ll explain everything.” 

“You got a long wait then.” She dropped the pillow next to Shiro giving him a nod before walking back to the door. “He’s on a mission, should be back in the morning. Guess we should all just sleep then. Night asshole, goodnight Mr. Talking Lion and ghost.” 

“Uh… Goodnight?” 

Lance sighed, standing up and beginning to unwind the strips of cloth over his clothes. “Pidge is right, come on, my bed is big enough for both of us.” 

Shiro swallowed hard, eyes watching as Lance began to strip off layers showing the skin underneath Shiro had already started memorizing. “You want to sleep together?”

“Sure!” Lance grinned yanking his shirt over his head. “You’re like the purr-fect cuddle partner.” 

“Oh god.” 

“A little cuddling is good paw-sitive reinforcement on our relationship, Shiro.” 

Shiro groaned rolling his eyes. “We do not have a relationship, Lance.”

Lance laughed, shimmying his pants down to stand in only tight fitting underwear that hugged the top of his thighs almost as perfectly as they did his ass. “Come on pussycat. You’re warm and soft, I wanna bury my face into your fur.”

_If only it weren’t fur._

“Fine fine.” Shiro hopped from the couch and followed Lance to the bed, excited for the torture of cuddles from someone so beautiful that he couldn’t touch. “But you’re the big spoon.”

* * *

Lance woke up with a content yawn, stretching his limbs and groaning with satisfaction. _I missed you bed. With your memory foam topper and down comforter and nest of pillows. The only thing that makes it better is the warm body behind me and the arm around my wai-_ “WHAT THE FUCK!!”

Lance shot up, eyes wide, and turned to stare down at the bare flesh of the man in his bed. He was pale, his skin littered in scars with shocking white hair falling into his face. His lower half looked to be covered in a furry blanket, but upon further inspection Lance realized it was in fact long, furry legs, with giant catlike paws. A tail twitched in annoyance behind the man as the hand reached up from around Lance’s waist and yanked him back down, pressing his face into a chiseled-by-the-gods chest. 

“Stay.” The deep rumble came from above Lance, startling him. “Warm."

Lance swallowed, very carefully moving his hands up to press on the chest so he could free his nose. “Shiro?” a rumble of a purr vibrated out of the chest he was pressed into. Lance smiled softly. 

Reaching up he grabbed a pillow, yanking it down to replace his body with it, rolling quickly off the bed to escape before Shiro could grab him again. Sprawled out on the floor Lance laughs to himself. “That was very unexpected.” 

After a few seconds Lance pushed himself to his feet, standing over the bed to look down at Shiro. “Amazing.” With careful, curious hands Lance pushed the long white hair out of Shiro’s face, taking in the sight. Shiro’s face was as gorgeous as his body. Long, white lashes, thick white brows, and a scar across his nose that just made him look more handsome. Lance licked his lips. “Beautiful.”

“You gonna stand there drooling all day or are we going to discuss what exactly is going on?” Lance jumped, clamping a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming. He whips around and sends an angry glare to Pidge in the doorway. “Hunk’s back, by the way.”

Lance nodded, dropping his hands and walking around Pidge. “Good, did he make coffee yet? I’m going to need another glass with lots of cream and sugar.” 

“Wow, you must really like this guy if you’re already getting him coffee.” Pidge snarked with a grin, which only grew as Lance felt the blush rising to his cheeks.

“Shut up Pidge! You don’t understand!! He just doesn’t function in the mornings without it.” Lance stomped off down the steps and through the door into the kitchen, grinning at the smell of pancakes and coffee. “HUNK THE LOVE OF MY LIFE I HAVE MISSED YOU.”

Hunk turns, his brown eyes lit up with amusement, a knowing smile on his face. He had his black hair pushed back from his face by his yellow hairband. “The love of your life huh? You sure don’t show it snuggling up to another ma-“ a loud thud from upstairs cuts him off. “The fuck was that?”

“I’m gonna need some coffee, big guy.” 

Another thud which leaves Lance chuckling as Hunk pours him a mug of coffee and pushes over the cream and sugar. Lance put in the sugar and creamer before stirring the coffee and setting it on the table. He moved around the table to open the door, just in time to watch Shiro stumble down the last few steps on his hands and paws. “Shiro, get in here your coffee is ready.”

A loud purr filled the hallway as Shiro pushed back up and clambered into the kitchen. Pidge barely held back a laugh as Shiro nearly collided with her legs, Lance shook his head, steering Shiro around and towards the chair. “Alright big guy you need to sit in the chair like a good human now, and don’t just lick at the coffee drink it properly.” 

“S’not funny.” Shiro mumbled, climbing into the chair causing everyone’s eyes to widen. Pidge screamed covering her eyes as Hunk quickly turned back to the stove, Lance just stared, his entire face and neck turning a bright red. For right in front of him, peeking out of the brush of white fur was a very erect and very human dick. 

“ _OH MY GOD!!!_ ” Lance scrambles over to Shiro, shoving his legs down and under the table. 

Shiro growled, the rounded cat ears at the top of his head flattening back as his lip curled back bearing still sharp canines around more human teeth. A loud hiss filled the room. Lance froze for only a second before reaching over, scooping up Hunk’s newspaper, still folded, from his spot at the table and thwapping Shiro on the head with it. 

“Stop that!” 

Shiro startled, eyes going wide, pupils slitted like a cats as he looked up at Lance. “What the he-“

Lance smacks him again. “Your bad morning manners are no excuse for indecent exposure! Pidge is just an innocent child!”

“I’m twenty.”

“SEE!! A small innocent child! You have soiled her innocence Shiro!” Lance picked up the coffee, then Shiro’s hand and setting it in it. “Drink it properly! And don’t get up from this chair! I’ll get you some pants.” 

“What are you-“ Shiro blinked, then blinked again, setting the coffee cup down he raised his hand up in front of his face. “Oh.” He wiggled his fingers slowly, other than the claws instead of fingernails and fur circling his wrist, puffing out like a bracelet it was human. 

Shiro stood up quickly sending the chair clattering to the floor and nearly spilling his coffee. Pidge shrieks, turning around as she covers her eyes up once more. Lance scrambles, flinging the newspaper open and holding it over Shiro’s crotch. “ _SHIRO!!!_ ” 

“I’m human! LANCE I’M HUMAN!!”

“YES AND YOU’RE ALSO NAKED!!” 

“Technically he’s only half human.” Pidge adds in, refusing to turn back around. 

“Can I turn back around yet? I’m done cooking and I’d like to eat my pancakes before they get cold.” Hunk glanced cautiously over his shoulder at them. 

“Yes, Hunk. I am going to take Shiro upstairs and get him some pants… Actually… Hunk? Buddy? Can I get a pair of your pj pants? I don’t think mine will be big enough.” Lance starts pushing Shiro towards the door, scrambling when he tries to uncover himself. “No no!! Keep the newspaper there, keep walking.” 

_This man will be the death of me._

* * *

Shiro shifted in the chair he was in, leaning back with a content purr as he pat his stomach. He hadn’t eaten that good since he was a human, and definitely not with such good company. Sure the oversized pants tied on his waist were uncomfortable over his cat parts, and his tail was driving him nuts tucked into one pant leg, but he was happy. 

He had hands… Well… A hand… He was almost human, and it was all thanks to Lance. Lance who didn’t give up on him, who encouraged him not through words, but through actions, who wanted to help him and Keith. Lance who had eyes like the clearest midday sky, and skin a beautiful tan contrast to his own pale color. Lance who’s smile make Shiro’s heart skip a beat and his laugh brought a blush to his cheeks. Lance who was happy to cuddle him, even though he was just a cat. 

Shiro smiled softly, running his hand through his hair as he watched Lance animatedly tell the story of his adventure. _God, I would have done anything to court a man like him back in my human days._

“-anything to add to that Shiro?” Shiro startled, eyes wide as they left Lance’s figure to look at Pidge’s amused face.

Shiro shook his head. “I’m sorry I uh… Wasn’t paying attention.” He could feel himself blushing as Pidge’s smile grew.

“That’s okay! It’s boring to listen to something when you were there for it!” Lance defends him with a confident grin, Shiro can barely hold back his happy sigh. “they were asking what happened every time you changed. I told them everything I knew.”

“Are you sure you don’t know what triggered the color of your mane changing a few days ago?” Hunk asked, pen tapping on a notebook full of notes in front of him. 

_The only think I was doing then was considering if lions and humans were sexually compatible._ Shiro turned his head away, taking a deep breath to clear his head before speaking. “Nope, I just went looking for Lance and it happened.”

Pidge hummed, looking over at Lance who sat with his chin in his hand watching Shiro, then back over to Shiro who was blushing so hard his neck was red and refusing to look at anyone. “Well, in my research I found most curses that happened to people back in those days had the same, common cure.”

“Really? What is it?” Lance’s eyes lit up as he looked over to Pidge.

Pidge glanced at Lance, then back over to Shiro, meeting his eyes with a knowing grin. “True love’s kiss.”

Shiro stared, feeling like a caged animal, his blush growing impossibly darker. “Uh… I-“

“That’s great! We just have to find people you like and get them to kiss you!" Lance’s blinding smile hurt Shiro as the words fell like lumps in his gut. 

“Uh… Yeah. Great… What about Keith?”

Hunk tapped his notebook. “Well from what I can gather Keith just needs a domain to possess. So he can travel anywhere as long as he attaches himself to something. We just have to get him out of there and he’ll be a free man-er… Ghost.” 

“Heck he could probably possess someone who’s unconscious and take over their body and live their lives.” Pidge added, holding her hand out. “Can I have the charm, please?”

Shiro’s hand moved up to his chest, fingers wrapping possessively around the necklace. It was his. Lance gave it to him. 

Pidge let out a huff, rolling her eyes. “I just want to get your friend out of it then I’ll return it. I promise.”

Shiro flushed again realizing Pidge could tell what he was thinking. “uh… Right.” He loops the chain up over his head holding it over the table. Pidge snatched it up and looked over it with excited wide eyes. 

“Amazing.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “This is a perfect sealing Lance. Not even a leak of his presence, I can’t even do that.”

“Really?” Lance turned bright red, grinning as he scratched his cheek. “It was no big deal.” 

“Well, I can get him out, I just need some rat whiskers and vampire bat’s breath. I already have the banshee’s hair and leaves of a dryad.” Pidge placed the charm down carefully on the table. 

“Oh! We can go get those! We’ll get Shiro some clothes too! And look for people to kiss him while we’re out!” Lance jumped up moving around the table to hug Shiro’s back in his excitement. “We’re gonna fix everything soon Shiro!”

He was out the door before Shiro could speak, running up the steps to get dressed. Pidge groaned as Hunk chucked. “I’m sorry, Shiro.”

“What?” Shiro turned his eyes to the two, wide and startled. 

Pidge tugged on her hair. Shiro frowned, grabbing a chunk of his hair and holding it in front of him, watching the sparkling glow leave a trail of black down the shimmering white locks. “Lance can be pretty dense.”

Shiro scrambled, standing up quickly. “Lance? What about him. I don’t care about him. He’s just a witch… I’m going to get ready.” He hurried out the kitchen, listening to the two behind him.

“What does he expect to do? Make a blanket toga?”

Pidge laughs. “You boys are all stubborn and stupid.”

“Rude.”

* * *

The market was packed, people bustling about browsing the available wares. Lance _loved_ the market. He bounced on the balls of his feet as he moved from booth to booth searching for the perfect outfit, Shiro standing in the shadows of a nearby alley anxiously waiting on him.

 _Gotta pick something that frames his perfect ass, but leaves space for the tail so it has to be low rise… And it needs plenty of space in the front for that massive delicacy he’s packing in front._ He shakes the dirty thoughts of what he’d like to do with Shiro’s gift from the gods and focuses on his purchases, snatching up a pair of black leather pants and eyeballing their size. He nods to himself, satisfied, and purchases them with a white tunic top and a hooded, deep purple vest. “Perfect, this should hide his ears and paws.”

Lance hands over the coins before excitedly bouncing back to the alley finding Shiro practically curled in on himself in the darkest corner. “Oh Shiro you big scaredy cat. Take Hunk’s pants off and put these on, I’ll stand watch.”

Shiro looked at the clothes, frowned and slowly pulled the top over his head. Lance swallowed the saliva gathering in his mouth as Shiro shoved Hunk’s pants down and literally wiggled into the tight fitting pants. _god what I wouldn’t give to be able to peel those back off of him._

“Lance these are too small.” Shiro frowned, turning around. “They’re so tight.”

Grinning Lance moved forward, taking advantage of the situation and running his hands over Shiro’s chest and down to his ass, cupping it with a grin before stepping back. “Nope, it all fits perfect. Tight fitting is in, silly kitten. It looks good on you.” He watched the sparkle of magic as another strip of black takes up Shiro’s long hair. “Now put on the vest, and curl your tail around your waist or something to hide it.”

Shiro frowned, wrapping his tail around his thigh and slowly pulling on the vest, glaring at the buttons. Lance wordlessly stepped forward to help, buttoning up the vest before moving to the sleeve of his missing arm and folding it up, setting a pin through to hold it up. “There,” Lance smiled up at him, patting his chest. “You look good enough to kiss.” 

Shiro swallowed hard, looking anywhere but at Lance. “What about my paws?”

“People will just think they’re fancy shoes.” Lance’s hands moved up, grabbing Shiro’s hood and pulling it up over his ears. _I could just tug him down like this and claim those perfect lips._ “Come on pussycat, lets get you some kisses.”

“Lance I-“ Shiro reached his arm up, setting his fingers over Lance’s hand by his face. “I think I-“

 _Oh god, my heart can’t take this, he’s just too perfect. Don’t get too attached, he needs his true love, I can’t mess that up._ Lance ripped his hand back, holding it to his chest and quickly rushing to the end of the alley. “We better hurry! We have to get the supplies to release Keith too!” 

A sigh echoed through the alley as Shiro stepped forward. “Yeah, lets get the stuff for Keith first.”

“Nonsense! We can multitask! What about that woman there?” Lance pointed to a woman walking by, flowing white curls billowing around her wearing an elegant pink and blue dress. “She seems like a real princess!” 

Shiro shook his head, frowning. “She’s… Not my type.”

“No?” Lance grinned, digging his elbow into Shiro’s side. “More of a bad girl type huh?”

“Not exactly…”

“Well we won't figure it out from here! Let's head for Dusk Street, the supplies for Keith will absolutely be in Olia’s shop. Werewolves have a talent in getting those good animal supplies. Though I’d rather not think of how.” Lance wrapped his fingers around Shiro’s wrist, pulling him down the street, easily weaving through the crowd. 

Shiro followed closely, eyes trained on the long fingers wrapped around the fur on his wrist. Startled out of his musings when Lance patted him on the chest. “What about her? She’s gorgeous.”

Lance pointed across the market to a woman leaning against a wall, one leg propped up and arms crossed under her breasts, she wore a tight fitting tank with even tighter shorts, and her blonde hair dangled from her head in long pigtails. “Is that the kind of girl you go for, Lance?” Shiro sounded sad, dejected.

“Me?” Lance looked back at the woman, then over to Shiro again. _I would have gone for her in an instant before, but now? I just don’t see it._ “Nah, I’m not really into dating right now. Gotta focus on myself first, right?”

“Yeah… You matter most.” Shiro watched as Lance moved his hand down, twining their fingers together. “Lance what-“

“Can’t go losing you, big man. You’re important after all.” _Plus, I can enjoy the feeling before you’re gone_. “Let me know if you see anyone you like!”

Not looking back Lance moved through the crowd, turning down a street that was unnaturally darker. “Woah.”

“I know right? Magic is insane.” Lance grinned, slowing his steps to walk beside Shiro, watching as he stared in awe up at the suddenly dark sky. “Welcome to Dusk Street.”

Shiro’s wide eyes looked up at the sky, then over at the still bright sky behind them. “How?” 

“This street was created by the higher power witches, its mostly inhabited by nocturnal creatures, like werewolves, vampires, and a few demons.” Lance bumped his hip against Shiro. “Maybe you like em goth?”

“Lance, please, just-“ 

“You’re right. Let's get the stuff for Keith first so we can focus on you after!” Lance pulled his hand away, heading for a shop with a full moon logo. “Come on, fluffy, we’re going in here.”

Shiro groaned, pushing the black of his hair back inside the hood and dragging his paws forward through the door after Lance. 

Moving inside the store Lance braced himself, arms open and ready. As soon as the door closed the pitter patter of paws thudded through the store followed by two lunging dogs. He wrapped his arms tight around the pups, spinning them around as they excitedly squealed. “Uncle Lance!! Did you come to show us a new trick?” 

Lance set the pups down, patting their heads as they looked up at him with lulling tongues and wagging tails. “Well I did get ahold of something really cool, but you’d have to ask your mom if you’re allowed to have it?” 

A woman stepped into view, she was short, but wearing an amused grin across her long muzzle, wolfish ears twitching in the air. She was wearing a simple vest over plain long sleeves and pants, paws padding softly on the hardwood as she moved, a tail swished behind her. “And what exactly are we asking for, Blue?” Her head tilted, nose twitching as she looked around Lance at Shiro. “I do hope it doesn’t involve the cat.”

“Nope! It does involve a pet though, what do you say, Oli? Do you trust me?” Lance grinned at the wolf.

“Not one bit, but my children love you so I’ll humor them. Do your magic.” The wolf nodded her head, leaning against a counter and crossing her arms to watch. 

“Okay! First, I need some cloth, something small and soft, and some of your saliva.”

“I’ll get a towel!” The bigger of the two puppies runs off down the hall. 

The younger one bounces. “I’ve got plenty of sa- sa- sawifa.”

“You’re darn skippy you do! I’ll get you in just a minute now I just…” Lance digs in his bag, pulling out two of the crow’s feathers and a snake’s skin. He wraps the skin around a chunk of coal, setting it on the bundled towel the other pup drops at his feet. 

Flopping down to sit cross-legged on the floor Lance holds out the two feathers. “Get em nice and wet for me?”

The young pup bounds forward, licking at the feathers until they’re literally dripping drool. “How’s that?” 

“I couldn’t ask for better assistants.” Lance jams the feathers into opposite sides of the snake skin and sprinkles a glittering powder over it. “Okay, you guys ready?”

“Yeah!!”

With a flick of his wrist Lance’s finger ignites in soft flames, moving his hand down he presses it to the top of the skin-wrapped coal. The flame spreads instantly, glowing like a beautiful rainbow, but not catching the fabric underneath it on fire. They die down as fast as they appeared leaving a shimmering glowing egg behind. 

“Oh my, Lance. Is that-?” Olia steps forward, the paws of her hands reaching out towards the egg.

“Yup! A quetzalcoatl egg. Now you guys have to let your mom care for it until it hatches, okay?” Lance smiled softly at the pups who bounced around excitedly failing at pronouncing quetzalcoatl. 

“Lance, this is extremely hard magic, and a beast like this could make a fortune.” Olia lifted up the egg lightly in her paws. “Are you sure you want to give it to us?”

Lance nodded, pushing up to his feet. “I know you guys will love and cherish it, and it’ll help you bring in money to pay your rent.” 

Olia’s eyes watered, but she quickly shook her head turning away. “Take what you came for, Blue witch. I must put this in incubation.” She moved quickly into the back of the store, her pups dancing around her feet with happy yips. 

“Whats a quiz-e-coat-l?” Shiro spelled it out slowly, still butchering the word.

“Kinda like a dragon.” Lance moved through the store, looking at different labels and pulling down a couple of jars putting them into his bag. “They’re extremely rare, since they lost the ability to breed properly after a curse, they can only be magic’d into existence.”

“How is that not good enough to certify you as a witch?” Shiro stared with wide eyes down at Lance. 

Lance chuckled, grabbing a couple rocks and putting them in his bag. “Because I froze up in the test and almost burnt down the building instead of creating an egg.” 

“Damn.” Shiro whistled lowly.

“Right?” Lance laughed, putting a few more things in his bag before walking to the counter, taking a pad and paper he wrote down everything he took. 

“Is this all you’re taking?” Olia frowned down at the paper as Lance pushed it away. “You should take more.”

“Just give me a tab Oli, and take good care of those pups, okay?” Lance grinned over at the werewolf.

Olia stretched across the counter, grabbing Lance and pulling him into an awkward hug. “You will always be part of our pack, Blue Witch. Never forget that.” 

“A McClain never forgets his family.” Lance grins, turning to the door, sending a wave over his shoulder as he walked out the door. 

“Are they actually your family?” Shiro asked as he moved to walk next to Lance.

Lance shrugged. “Family doesn’t have to be blood. Olia and I go way back. It’s not important. Let's get you some kisses!” 

“But Lance-“

“No buts!!” Lance clicked his tongue, moving to point at a woman standing in the corner, purple hair slicked back and dark eyes trained in a glare in their direction. “How about her?”

“Lance please stop.”

“No?” His hand moved over to point at another woman who practically skipped down the street, her skin and hair practically glowing in the dark, a long ponytail trailing behind her. “Her then?”

“Lance I really don’t-“

“Maybe that one?” A large woman with muscles to spare, her hair cut in a bob flowing out the sides. “She could probably bench press both of us.”

“LANCE WILL YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME!” Shiro grabbed Lance’s shoulder, turning him around to glare down at him. “I don’t want to kiss any of these people Lance. I don’t-“

Lance frowned. “But Shiro. I want to save you.”

“Then _you_ save me Lance.” 

“I’m trying!” Lance turned heading into the daylight, looking around. “I know we can find you the perfect girl.”

“Forget it.” Shiro pushed past Lance, tail unwinding from his leg to swish angrily behind him. “I can’t do this anymore, Lance. I don’t want your help. Just forget about me.”

“SHIRO WAIT!” Lance lunged, hand just missing Shiro’s wrist and falling to the cobblestone walkway. “Please-“

“Goodbye, Lance.” Shiro doesn’t even look back, quickly moving through the crowd to disappear. 

Lance lay on the ground, staring at the direction Shiro disappeared until an officer came over to check on him.

His hands were scraped, and his knees bruised from the fall.

But his heart hurt the most.

* * *

The hallway stood as empty as Lance’s heart felt as he walked into his house, pushing the door closed behind him. He sighed, leaning back against the door and sliding down, burying his face in his hands. 

The image of Shiro walking away wouldn’t leave his mind. He groaned, curling into a tighter ball. “This sucks.”

“You didn’t catch anything on fire again, did you?” Pidge’s voice called from much too close. 

“No. It’s worse.” Lance refused to look up, hugging his legs and burying his face in his knees. He could feel the sting of tears forming. 

“Worse than burning down a building?” Pidge sounded impressed.

“Hey where’s Shiro?” Hunk called from down the hall. Lance whimpered, curling his legs tighter, sniffing.

“Lance, where is Shiro?” Pidge sounded unhappy now, all amusement gone from her voice. 

Lance swallowed around the lump in his throat, whispering into his legs. “He left.”

“What?” Hunk, closer now.

“He left, Hunk.” Lance looked up, blinking through the tears to glare at the two staring down at him. “I tried to help him find true love and he told me to forget about him and left!”

“He left?”

“Yes.”

“Like, he’s gone?”

“Yes, Hunk! He’s gone! I just wanted to help him I don’t understa-“

“ _YOU IDIOT!!_ ” Pidge reached out, smacking Lance across the head. “Leave it to you to fuck this up so badly!” 

“I didn’t fuck it up!! I was just pointing out nice women and he got mad and stormed off!” Lance put a hand to his head, glaring right back at Pidge.

Pidge groaned, turning to smack her forehead against the wall. “How can someone so talented be so _dense_?”

“Lance you have to go find him.” Hunk supplied with a frown. “You have to-“

“He doesn’t want my help Hunk! Why can’t you just drop it?” Lance stood up, walking around the pair to stomp towards his room. Thick fingers wrapped tight around his wrist halting him. “Let go.”

“Not gonna happen buddy, you need to listen to us.”

“I don’t want to-“

“You don’t have a choice.” Pidge moved back in front of him, pointing an angry finger up at him. “You _will_ listen to us.”

“Lance, when did Shiro first change?” Hunk inquired.

“When we were sleeping on the first night, his head was on my chest.” Lance growled. “You already-“

“The next change?” Pidge cut him off.

“When I hugged him in the wood-“

“Another one?” Hunk again.

“When he warmed my frozen body after the spell with his own.” Lance’s voice softened.

Pidge stepped back, slowly. “Keep going.”

“When we shared the bed upstairs.” Lance looked down, brows furrowed.

“Any more?” Hunk let go of his wrist and Lance held it up in front of his face, memories flashing through his mind. 

Lance nodded. “When he pressed my hand against his cheek in the alley.”

“Did you figure it out?” Pidge asked, but already knew the answer. 

Lance nodded slowly, pointing to himself. “It’s… Me. I’m the one who has to kiss Shiro.” 

“There it is.” Hunk grins, patting Lance on the shoulder. 

“I HAVE TO GO!” Lance looked up with wide eyes, rushing back to the door and yanking it open. “I have to find him! Oh god I have to apologize! I have to go!!” He slammed the door shut, rushing down the street and back to where he hoped he’d find Shiro.

_I’m coming Shiro, please wait for me._

* * *

It hurt. 

His whole body hurt.

Like ice was freezing his joints, making them stiff and hard to move. 

But he kept going. Kept walking even after he left the large town.

Kept moving even as his limbs cracked and popped, kept going when his jaw felt like someone was ripping his teeth out one by one. 

He made it to the edge of Kogane Forest when his body gave, bowing him over, his clothes ripping as he continued to crawl forward. His vision blurred as he moved, the steps becoming easier as claws started digging into the soft dirt. 

When the tatters of the clothes became too heavy he wiggled and squirmed until he could get his body through the collar. His ears ached, popping and buzzing, but he kept going, leaving no prints with his small paws as his cave came into view. 

He moved inside, collapsing into the pillows with a pained groan. He inhaled, curling up into himself, whimpering when Lance’s scent filled his nose from the pillows. 

_Lance._

Hopeful blue eyes filled his mind, the image of Lance holding his hand, pointing ahead of him at a woman. 

“Why did you push me away?”

“Because I’m stupid.” Shiro startled, wide eyes turning to the crevice in the wall, watching Lance struggle to pop through it. 

“Go away.” _Stay._

“Shiro I’m sorry.” Lance stood at the edge of the pillows looking sadly down at him. 

Shiro hissed. “I don’t care.” _I care so much it hurts._

“I fucked up, Shiro.” Lance dropped to his knees, blue eyes wide, sparkling with unshed tears. 

“I don’t want you in here!” _I do, I want you here, holding me, comforting me._

“That’s a lie.” Lance moved slowly, crawling forward until he stopped right in front of Shiro. “If you really want me to leave, I’ll go, but only after I speak my mind.”

“I don’t care.” _I do._

“I just wanted to help you Shiro, I wanted to see you human, and happy. I was willing to do anything to do it.” Lance reached his hand out, stopping inches from Shiro’s fur and curling his fingers into a fist. 

“You didn’t help, look at me now, right back to stage one. So leave.” _Stay, pet me, hold me, love me._

“Give me one more chance, I promise, I know what to do now.” Lance looked up at him hope filling his eyes.

Shiro curled up, hiding his face. “I hate you.” _I love you._

“Tell me you don’t want me here and I’ll leave.” 

A growl rumbled out of Shiro’s chest, but he couldn’t speak. Couldn’t tell any more lies. Tentative fingers touched his back, moving slowly down his back, Shiro whimpered and tried to curl up tighter. 

Another hand joined the first, and slowly Shiro felt himself being lifted, pressed into the warmth of Lance’s chest. He purred. He couldn’t stop himself. A soft kiss pressed into his forehead and Shiro felt warm, felt himself growing bigger. 

Soft lips pressed to his nose and he felt his body growing wider, Lance’s arms wrapped around his back, hands burying into the fluff of his mane. Another kiss pressed to his cheek and he felt his paw shifting, his muzzle shortening. 

Shiro whimpered, pushing back onto his haunches. Lance followed, running his hands up Shiro’s neck to cup his jaw, smiling as he watched the fur fade away, watched as Shiro became more human. “Shiro, I found what I was looking for. All this time I thought I wanted validation. When I found that story about the heroic cat, I thought I just wanted a pet. I was wrong, I know that now. I know what I wanted, what I was looking for.”

“Lance-“ Shiro swallowed hard looking up into blue eyes. “What were you looking for, Lance?”

The smile that spread across Lance’s face was perfect, Shiro had never seen anything more beautiful as Lance leaned forward pressing their foreheads together. “You. I was looking for you. Not the hero cat, but the man inside the cat. The man I love.”

Lance’s lips hovered just over Shiro’s, both their eyes fluttered closed. “Can I kiss you?”

Shiro chuckled, wrapping his arm around Lance and pulling him forward. “I thought you’d never ask.” 

Their lips pressed together in a soft, tentative touch. Shiro groaned, his entire body heating up as they kissed again, and again. His toes curled as Lance dug his hands into his hair, pressing forward to deepen the kiss. 

Shiro felt like he should be purring as Lance climbed forward into his lap, wrapping long legs around his waist and laving his tongue along Shiro’s lips. He opened his mouth and darted his tongue out, twisting with Lance’s, pulling him tighter against his chest. 

Lance ground his hips down, pressing the front of his pants into Shiro’s erection, bringing a groan from both of them. Shiro shifted, lifting Lance up easily and flipping them, pinning him down into the pillows. He ground down, feeling Lance buck his hips up and moan. 

They thrust against each other, erratic and uncoordinated. Their kisses got sloppy, drool dripping down Shiro’s chin as he leaned back, looking down at Lance. Blue eyes opened, pupils blown wide as long fingers run through Shiro’s hair, pushing it back behind his ear. “I love you, Shiro.”

Shiro groaned, bucking harder as his dick began to twitch with release. “Fuck, Lance.” He shifted, laying on his side beside Lance so he could move his hand, bringing it down to press into Lance’s cock through his pants. 

Lance moaned, back bowing. It only took a few seconds before he was staining the inside of his pants. Shiro kept moving his hand until Lance whined for him to stop. Then he wrapped his arm around Lance’s waist and pulled him in tight to his chest. 

They lay in silence, curled up against each other until Lance started to fidget. “Shiro?”

“Mmm?”

“I didn’t bring a change of clothes.” 

Shiro pulled back, looking down at Lance, still fully clothed, his pants wet from his own release, and his shirt and vest splattered in Shiro’s. “Oh… Well… I guess we both get to be naked then?”

Lance grinned, his hands moving to unbutton his vest. “I can work with that.”

* * *

Lance gasped, burying his face into his pillow as fingers tightened on his hips. The rhythmic slap filling the air as his hole was continually filled. Icy cold fingers strayed from his hip, trailing up his spine making him shudder, they continued their path up and around at his neck to grip his jaw, pulling his body up flush with the chest behind him. The change in angle had Shiro hitting his sweet spot with every hard thrust, keeping up the same quick pace. 

Lance scrambled, hands searching for something, anything to dig his nails into. His left hand digs into the flesh of Shiro’s arm as the right moves up, wrapping around Shiro’s head behind him, tugging him down until lips meet his shoulder. He whimpers, biting his lip as the hand on his hip moves, sliding down to rub along his length. 

The grip on his jaw tightens, a cold tingling where the hand touches his skin, his magic calling out to him. He opens his mouth, gasping out a loud moan. “That’s my good boy,” the voice chuckles into his neck, teeth grazing his flesh. “I want the world to hear how good I make you feel.”

Lance moans out, voice breaking as the hand on his cock starts to move, quickly pulling another orgasm out of him, his dick’s pitiful attempt at release dribbling down onto the already soiled blankets below. “Shir-ooohh.”

“That’s it baby, just a little more I’m so clo-“

“Lance!” The door to his room swings open. “There’s someone here to see yo-OHMYGOD!” Keith flails, trying to cover his eyes with his own transparent hands to block out the image as Shiro’s body curls around Lance’s, dick pulsing inside of him as he releases. 

“I told you not to go in there.” Pidge’s voice calls up the steps as Keith quickly floats off down the steps leaving the door open. 

Lance panted, flopping down onto the bed with a chuckle as soon as Shiro’s hand released him. “Did you just get off to Keith walking in on us?”

Shiro hummed, leaning down to nuzzle into Lance’s neck. “I like people knowing who you belong to.”

“Oh my god my true love is a freak. Get off get off I have to clean up and go see my guest.” Lance smacked at Shiro’s shoulder until he grunted, flopping to the side. On wobbly legs Lance slid off the bed, uncaring for the mess running down his legs as he scurried across the floor into his bathroom, shutting the door behind him. 

A few moments later Lance re-emerged wiped clean and hair brushed. He grins at Shiro before sashaying across the floor to pull on some underwear and pants, grabbing a soft blue shirt and yanking it over his head. “See you downstairs love.” He waves over his shoulder and moves down the steps, changing his strides to something more comfortable as soon as he’s out of Shiro’s sight. 

He walks into the sitting room, grin falling as his eyes land on the woman sitting in the plush leather chair, sipping a cup of coffee. Her white hair was pulled up in a controlled bun, eyes swirling with a pink tint of magic as they land on Lance, and she had pinned to her chest the name tag with the logo of the officiants of magic. “Hello, Mr McClain.” 

Lance pushes a smile back on his face and strides over, reaching out a hand to shake. “Please, call me Lance, Miss…” His eyes strayed over to her name tag on her chest. “Allura. What can I do for you?” 

Allura waves to the empty loveseat and Lance slowly settles into it, holding back the wince as he sits wrong. “Well, Lance. I have a list of things.” She holds her wrist up, pulling up a glowing screen in front of her face. “I have a long list of reports I would like to go over with you, if you don’t mind.”

Nodding slowly Lance leans back in his seat. “Go ahead.”

“I have reports of healing injured pets without a permit, freezing a river to stop a runaway boat, removing silver poisoning from a werewolf, getting involved with werewolf politics, exorcising and sealing a demon, creating endangered magical creatures, removing a cursed soul from his designated area-“

“Designated area? Don’t I get a say in-“

“Keith shush! You’re not helping!” Hunk shooed Keith away, watching as Lance leaned forward, hands shaking as he propped his chin in his hands, elbows on his knees.

“As I was saying.” She pauses as Shiro walks into the room, sitting beside Lance and wrapping an arm around his back. “Performing a high level curse removal without written permit, using magic to create a replacement limb, fraternizing with the cursed-“

“I have a name.”

“Shiro, it’s okay.” Lance pats his knee softly. “Continue.”

Allura turns a stern glare up to Lance. “All of these offenses for an uncertified witch are quite illegal without permit which, in my paperwork all I see is a permit to search for a familiar.” 

Lance licked dry lips and nodded. “That’s right.” 

“Then,” she smiled softly, pulling out an envelope and holding it over the table to him. “It is a good thing you are certified.”

“What?”

“But I’m-“ Lance takes the envelope, slowly opening it, pulling out the handful of cards from inside.

Certificate of magic authorization.

Degree of medical magic.

Degree of curse removal.

Degree of magical creature handling.

Certificate of magical experimentation and creation. 

“This is-“

“A gift, Mr. McClain. Do not let it get out of this room that you did not already have these things. Do you understand?” She stood looking down at him. Lance beamed, nodding and blinking back tears. 

“Yes, thank you. Thank you so much.” He turned to Shiro, waving the cards in front of his face like he hadn’t seen them. “Look!! I don’t have to hide anymore!”

“We should celebrate!” Hunk stated with a grin, standing from his chair and headed for the door. “I’ll go buy supplies for a feast!”

“I’ll come too!” Pidge jumps up, grinning over at Allura. “I’ll escort you out first of course.”

The three left the room leaving Lance and Shiro as the only living souls left. Shiro turned to Lance, running a hand along his jaw. “We can do some celebrating of our own while they’re out.”

“ _Oh god._ HUNK!! PIDGE!! PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU!” Keith floated quickly through the wall chasing after his salvation, leaving the couple behind, pressed into each other as they laugh.

Their laughter died down, and Lance looked up at Shiro, their eyes still sparkling in amusement. He got everything he’d ever wanted, plus so much more, and all it took was a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Please make sure to go to thess links and see the beautiful art made for this fic! Reblog them and give them some love too!
> 
> https://orionthegay.tumblr.com/post/180584727217/its-posting-time-i-participated-in-the
> 
>   
> https://aceveria-art.tumblr.com/post/180597774930/one-of-my-pieces-for-the-shanceaubang-this
> 
> hope you enjoyed the story, your comments and Kudos fuel me.


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